


The Gift of the Mahj

by Sangerin



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Christmas, Episode Related, F/M, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-11-01
Updated: 1999-11-01
Packaged: 2017-10-04 16:19:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sangerin/pseuds/Sangerin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn't the way you would choose to spend Christmas. Stranded on a planet in the middle of the Delta Quadrant, probably for the rest of their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift of the Mahj

**Author's Note:**

> An adaptation of O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi". Assumes that Christmas came during "Basics" (the s2/s3 cliffhanger).

It wasn't the way you would choose to spend Christmas. Stranded on a planet in the middle of the Delta Quadrant, probably for the rest of their lives. Except that Hogan didn't have any time left. And neither, it seemed, did Samantha's child. How sad, for Naomi to be brought into the world - saved from the Vidiians by Harry and the Doctor's counterpart - only to die on this barren, almost pre-historic world.

Kathryn shook her head in mute disbelief. Only a week ago she had been approving Neelix's plans for a Christmas party on the holodeck. Two weeks before that, she and Chakotay had been trying to decide how to spend Christmas on New Earth… She let out a rueful laugh.

'Something funny?' said B'Elanna, testily.

'No,' replied Kathryn. 'I was just thinking about how little things have changed in the past month.'

'Little?'

'Yes - three weeks ago I was stranded on a planet for the rest of my life. Now, I'm stranded on a planet for the rest of my life. The only difference is the ecosystem and the number of fellow strandees.'

'When you put it that way…' B'Elanna grimaced. 'Good night, Captain.'

'Goodnight, B'Elanna.' Kathryn watched as the other woman shifted uncomfortably on the ground. Then she closed her eyes and tried - hard - to get to sleep.

After what she guessed was about half an hour, Kathryn realised that sleep wasn't going to come easily. Her thoughts drifted back to Christmas, and a conversation she and Chakotay had on New Earth.

_'What would you like for Christmas, Kathryn?'_

_'Oh, I don't know - you've already given me a bathtub.' She had smiled across at him._

_'There must be something you'd like.'_

_'Well…' she had paused to consider, 'There is one thing. You'll think me a little silly, but…'_

_'Yes?'_

_'Hairclips.'_

_'Hairclips?'_

_'Oh, I know I can replicate them easily enough, but it was a bit of a tradition with my family. Phoebe and I were always given hairclips in our Christmas stockings.'_

_'And it makes you think of Christmas at home.'_

_'Mm-huh,' she had nodded. 'What about you? What would you like for Christmas, Chakotay?'_

Kathryn remembered the look that had come into Chakotay's eyes, and the stab of fear she had felt, regretting the question. But he had just smiled.

_'I'm not sure I know. My family never celebrated Christmas, and even after I left them it was never really special to me.'_

_'Just as a present, then. You've done so much for me - I should be able to give something back.'_

_'Well…'_

_'What?'_

_'Mushroom soup. Don't look so surprised! I always loved it, but then it became a "Seska" thing. I'd like to have it when it had nothing to do with Seska at all.'_

_'You're asking me to make mushroom soup for you? I don't cook!'_

_'Does that mean you can't?'_

_'No…'_

_'And you did ask what you could do for me.'_

_'I suppose I did.'_

With the memory of Chakotay's smile in her mind, Kathryn drifted off to sleep.

* * *

As she woke up next morning, Kathryn heard Harry saying 'Merry Christmas' to someone. His tone was desultory at best. But at least he'd remembered, she thought. That was better than ignoring the holiday altogether.

Next to her, B'Elanna sat up slowly, rubbing her neck.

'It's not the most comfortable of sleeping arrangements, is it?' Kathryn asked sympathetically.

'You can say that again,' said B'Elanna with a grimace.

'Do you know if there are any edible fungi on this planet?' Kathryn asked.

B'Elanna stared. 'Why fungi in particular?'

'Well, I'd like to try to make some mushroom soup,' said Kathryn, without thinking.

Despite her weariness, B'Elanna's eyes lit up with interest. 'Mushroom soup? There's only one person here…'

'B'Elanna?' Kathryn interrupted. 'Fungi?'

'I don't know, Captain,' B'Elanna grinned. 'You'll have to ask Neelix.'

_Great._

* * *

'Edible fungi, Captain? Yes, we have some right here.' Neelix wandered across the storage cave to where the edibles were piled. 'I'm sorry to ask, Captain, but is this for personal use?'

'In a way…It's a Christmas gift.'

'I can't let you have very much, you understand.' He picked up a couple of large green stalks.

'I understand, Neelix. What you can spare will be fine. Also, have you found anything similar to Terran pepper?'

'Not on the planet, Captain, but…' Neelix paused, as if considering his options. Then he put a hand in his pocket and pulled out a tiny packet and gave it to Kathryn. 'I found that I had this in my pocket. It's replicated Terran Pepper. I was going to make a pepper steak for Ensign Kaplan before Seska arrived. But, well, now I have the pepper, and no steak. So, especially if it's for Christmas…it will be good for morale.'

'Thank you, Neelix.'

'Here, don't forget your fungi.'

Kathryn took the thick, slightly slimy stems. 'You're sure this is edible?'

'Of course, Captain.' Neelix looked only slightly insulted by her comment. 'I hope the Commander enjoys his soup.'

_Great._

* * *

It may have been Christmas, but they still had to survive. Kathryn snatched five minutes here and there during the day. She spent five minutes pulverising the fungi, then led a team looking for more sources of water. When she returned, she took a little water from their collection, and mixed it with the fungi a bit at a time. Just finding the bowl had taken up most of the break she had taken from food gathering that morning. If they ever got Voyager back - how, she had less than no idea - she would owe a lot of people a lot of favours.

But the final indignity had been losing the rest of her hair. It had been a basin cut - Joe Carey had jokingly called it a basalt cut - before. Now, it was a crew-cut. But it was the only way to start a fire. And so many people were involved in this already - she didn't want to ask someone else to give up their hair.

Huddled over the fire, Kathryn stirred the soup, watching it boil and thicken. She tasted it, added just a pinch of Neelix's precious pepper, and tasted it again.

A shadow fell over the fire and Kathryn looked up.

'Hi,' she said.

'Someone told me you were cooking,' said Chakotay. 'Is there enough for me, too? I don't like the idea of Neelix's cooking for Christmas dinner.'

'And you'd rather mine?'

'Let me taste it and see.'

Kathryn lifted the bowl from the fire, and Chakotay tasted some of the soup that was clinging to the edge.

'Mushroom soup?' he asked, surprised, putting the bowl back on the fire.

'Merry Christmas.' Like Harry's greeting that morning, it sounded rather lame and unenthusiastic.

Chakotay paused, then he smiled. The first smile she had seen on his face since Seska's message buoy had arrived. 'You remembered…'

'New Earth? Yes. There isn't much I can do for you - in this situation - but, well, at least I can make the mushroom soup you asked for. Here, I think it's done.'

'You'll share it with me, won't you, Kathryn?' Chakotay's eyes were intense as he asked her.

She tried to lighten the atmosphere. 'You think I want to eat Neelix's cooking?' She took the bowl off the fire as Chakotay sat down. As she held the bowl out to him, she saw a small package in his hand, held out towards her. 'What's this?'

'Merry Christmas, Kathryn.' He put the small package on the ground and picked up the bowl.

Kathryn unwrapped the parcel to find what she had somehow expected. Hairclips. Delicately carved wooden tops, the metal clips fastened to the backs. 'Where…how?'

'I'd already made them for you, Kathryn. It was pure luck that I had them with me when we were abandoned here.'

'They're beautiful.' Self-consciously, Kathryn lifted a hand to touch her hacked-short hair.

He saw the gesture and grimaced. 'I guess they aren't much use anymore.' He held out the soup bowl to her. 'The soup is delicious, Kathryn. Thank you.'

She sipped at it, then put down the bowl. 'But this present is no more use to you than the hair clips. It isn't exactly Seska-free.'

'Maybe not,' said Chakotay. 'But it's served its purpose.'

'Which is?'

He reached out and fingered the uneven ends of her hair. 'Next time I have mushroom soup, I won't be thinking about Seska. I'll be thinking of you.'

Kathryn covered his hand with hers, holding it to her cheek. She closed her eyes briefly…and felt Chakotay's breath on her face. She opened her eyes just at the moment his lips touched hers. She closed her eyes again and leaned against him.

'Captain?' she heard Harry calling. She pulled away from Chakotay. 'I have to go. They need me.' She stood up and was moving towards the sound of Harry's voice.

'They'll always need you, Kathryn. So will I.'

She looked back. 'And I'll always need you, Chakotay.' She looked down at the hairclips in her hand and gathered up the longest of her roughly cut strands of hair. She clipped them together at the back of her head, kissed the tips of her fingers, and placed her hand against Chakotay's cheek. 'Merry Christmas, Chakotay.'

He held the hand she had placed on his cheek, then kissed the back of her fingers. 'Merry Christmas, Kathryn.'


End file.
